RDU: The Packing List

Dear Internet,
It’s been a crazy lately, and that’s putting it mildly. Tomorrow morning I head to my third trip in a month and I feel like I’m becoming such an old pro at this packing thing that is getting slightly ridiculous.
I must catch you up on where I’ve been!
In late March, I went to the Code4Lib conference in Raleigh, NC which was turned out to be pretty awesome. The conference itself was intense and I learned a lot AND met a lot of great people. I’m so enamoured of the community! I was co-running an all day pre-conference, which meant I had a lot more stuff, namely swag for 30 people, to haul in addition just my self and toiletries.
I was in RDU for five days/four nights with sketchy weather. The day before I flew in, it was 76 degrees and sunny. My entire stay, it was mid-50s and rainy.
Behold my packing prowess:

RDU: Before
RDU: Before

RDU: After
RDU: After

Since I’ve been fine tuning the packing process in the last few years, I thought it might be helpful to see what gear / gadgets / geegaws I’ve been using to help with the minimalist packing aesthetic:
Gear / Gadgets / Geegaws

The big AHA moment is realising that by converting as much of my toiletries to solids, such as shampoo/body soap/lotion, it does NOT need to go into ye olde quart bag, which is brilliant. Also, the Travel Smart Travel Bottle Set was a great investment because it allows me to take my favorite products such as hair manipulator, face lotions, and other products in travel sizes. It may have been a bit pricey, but we do not have a Container Store near me and I was having a hard time finding the jars and bottles in the sizes I wanted individually.
The New Trent iCarrier 12000mAh Portable Dual USB Port External Battery Charger/Power Pack has also been great investment since it will charge my iDevices simultaneously, which is a boon for long flights. I’ve been so in love with this product, I’ve bought it as gifts for friends and family.
In addition to the above, I also packed with me:

Tom Bihn bag:

  • 30 brown bags (for swag)
  • Nearly full gallon bag of pens/stickers/etc (swag)
  • Four mini Rubber Duckies (swag)
  • Jewelry box
  • Make up bag
  • Tissue paper (for swag bags)
  • Loofah
  • Ice pack
  • Umbrella
  • 1 Tieks
  • 1 Chucks
  • Dress boots (wearing)
  • 1  (2) Jeans
  • 1 (2) Bra
  • 2 (3) Socks
  • Drug case
  • Cardigan
  • 7 (8) T-shirts
  • 1 Skirt
  • 1 Dress
  • 6 (7) Underwear
  • Toothbrush
  • Toiletries bag
  • 1 Yoga pants
  • 1  pair of glasses
  • 1 tank tops
  • 2 pairs of tights
  • Spring jacket (wearing)
  • Gloom (card game)
  • Fluxx (card game)
  • Chrononauts (card game)
  • iRig microphone
 Rickshaw bag:

  • Mac Air
  • iPad
  • Work notebook
  • Personal notebook
  • Fountain pens
  • Pencil case
  • Clutch with money
  • Bag o’cables for devices
  • Portable recharger brick
  • Quart bag with toiletries
  • Pouch with miscellany

Since I’m recreating this a month later, I’m sure I’m missing a few things, but this is the gist of the packing. And the best part? I could have made my clothes last for longer than a week AND since I was carrying of swag that I was going to hand out to people, my bag was going to be emptier coming back. SCORE!
xoxo,
Lisa

This day in Lisa-Universe: